Michael Fassbender is in negotiations to star in “The Department,” an espionage thriller series directed by George Clooney.
Set to start shooting in London this spring, “The Department” is based on “The Bureau,” the hit French spy show created, directed and produced by Eric Rochant. It has already been given a straight-to-series order by Showtime. The series is produced by Clooney and Grant Heslov’s Smokehouse Pictures, MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios.
The original French show starred Matthieu Kassovitz as Guillaume Debailly — alias Paul Lefebvre, alias Malotru — a member of a clandestine branch of the French Secret Services (DGSE) who returns to his home base after a six-year mission in Damascus. As he struggles to let go of his false identity and illicit affair with a Syrian woman, he finds himself playing a double game between the DGSE and the CIA. The show was a smash hit on Canal+ in France due to its look at the psychology of secret agents, inclusion of geopolitical issues that resonated with current events and international locations.
Produced by MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios, “The Department” will be executive produced by Keith Cox and Nina L. Diaz of MTVE Studios; David Glasser, Ron Burkle, David Hutkin and Bob Yari of 101 Studios (“Yellowstone”); Alex Berger for The Originals Productions; and Ashley Stern and Pascal Breton for Federation Studios/Federation Entertainment of America.
Fassbender recently played a professional assassin in David Fincher’s “The Killer.” He is represented by Conor McCaughan, Range Media Partners, Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern and Tapestry.
From Variety US
